Have you ever found yourself out and about and in need of a way to get at some liquid refreshment? Sure there are flashier ways to open a bottle, but in my experience this is a nice, easy, and quick way to open your own or a companion's drink without making a production out of it.

You'll need

a) a fairly sturdy ring that isn't too soft
b) a closed bottle of some sort

(for purposes of this demonstration ignore the fact that IBC root beer comes with twist off caps, this trick will work for all standard bottle caps, most usefully being those which require the use of a bottle opener ;-)

Step 1: Know Your Enemy.

If you've ever tried to get at the contents of a bottle without the benefit of a twist off cap or a proper bottle opener you know first hand how painful those small folds that hold it in place can be. However they're also the key to getting in. Basically all bottle openers use the principle that you slide something hard underneath one edge of the bottle cap and you push up, sometimes using part of the bottle opener to bend the bottle cap making it easier to remove.

So where to find something hard to pry that little sucker off?

Step 2: One Ring to Rule Them All or at Least Get Them All Drunk...

In theory any ring from your cherished wedding band to one from a box of cracker jacks will work for this trick, but I've found that class rings like this one work particularly well. They have two things that are very useful.

1) a hefty but not overly large lower part that can be grabbed by the bottle cap's "teeth"
2) a broad face that won't dig into your finger when you put pressure on it.

In this case I'm using my stainless steel rat ;-) so it's pretty impervious to damage under normal circumstances (24k gold might not hold up so well for this sort of thing)

Step 3: Introduce Ring to the Bottle Cap

Once you've done it a few times you'll get a feel for how easy it is to find the sweet spot where the bottle cap grabs enough of the ring so that you're ready to pull up. I generally roll my fingers over the top of the bottle cap to help stabilize everything and to help me get some leverage on the bottle.

Step 4: Twist Up and Off

It's not really a twisting motion but it sort of feels like it. Basically you close your hand and let the ring push the one end up and off the bottle. Your fingers help keep everything where it should go and they help you corral the bottle cap once it's off.